WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 61: Into the Snowfield
──────
“What? Mauk?”
Elena tilted her head as she looked at the beggar.
“C-Come to think of it... he does look like him...”
Startled, Daisy covered her mouth, her eyes wide.
One of the ragged beggars asking for alms looked toward us.
“I-Ian? Elena? Daisy?”
The reaction was immediate.
I had doubted it, but it really was Mauk.
‘He was alive...’
I lowered the hand supporting my chin and asked the innkeeper for three servings of food.
“Master, set us up with a hearty meal.”
“What? You know our mage sir?”
The innkeeper, who had looked ready to break the beggars’ legs with the club in their hand, immediately beamed. They seated Mauk and brought out a generous spread.
“Ah, sorry I didn’t recognize you! Come on, eat as much as you want!”
They threw the others out, though.
“Get lost, you bastards! Before I kill every last one of you!”
...
His hair was shaggy.
His clothes were so filthy that it was hard to tell whether they were rags or tatters.
His eyes trembled as he looked at us, and he kept swallowing.
Mauk had somehow survived that day and made it to the Labyrinth, but a lot seemed to have happened to him afterward.
I looked at Mauk with pity, then pointed at the food.
“Eat first, Mauk. We’ll talk after.”
Chomp! Chomp!
Three servings vanished in an instant.
Cough! Cough!
“M-Mauk... Slow down. You’ll choke.”
Daisy watched Mauk devour the food like a madman even as he choked, then held out a cup of water.
“Huff, huff.”
Once I saw he was ready to talk, I asked him.
“Tell me, Mauk. What happened to you all this time?”
“Well...”
Still unable to meet my eyes properly, Mauk told us what had happened that day.
After ignoring my warning and heading to the Draugr habitat, Mauk lost all his friends and wandered the snowfield. Then, through sheer luck, a frontier noble’s party headed for Labyrinth City spotted him and brought him to the city with them.
“They were a handsome blue-haired person...”
But that was where their kindness ended.
When Mauk first arrived in the city, he had no weapon and had lost all his belongings.
He was a drifter with no money and no connections. On top of that, there were not many places in the city willing to hire a man.
“I hurt my back carrying stone, so I couldn’t work anymore... And I couldn’t bring myself to go into the Labyrinth either...”
After seeing his friends die before his eyes to the Draugr, Mauk had lost his courage. He could not even enter the Labyrinth.
‘Not that he had a weapon to begin with.’
In the end, he chose to beg.
“S-So that’s what happened... That’s what happened.”
Mauk spoke timidly, and several of his teeth were missing. They had probably fallen out during his harsh life as a beggar.
“...”
Elena crossed her arms with a frown, while Daisy’s eyes trembled with sympathy. I also sighed at his pitiful story.
He had been stubborn and full of childish bravado, but for a village kid, he had possessed confidence and pride.
But look at him now.
All that stood before us was a beggar who anxiously watched our expressions.
The village chief’s son had fallen all the way to the bottom.
Hoo.
I felt sorry for thinking this, but while I pitied Mauk, I also felt relieved.
‘If I hadn’t become a mage that day...’
If I had gotten scared and refused to enter the Labyrinth, I might have ended up much like him.
‘Such a base emotion for a genius mage to harbor.’
After reflecting on myself, I called out to Mauk.
“Mauk.”
Then I held out seventeen silver coins from the advance payment I had received for this Magic Tower request.
“...?!”
“Here’s the money.”
It was the value of the food, weapons, clothes, and Hourglass in Mauk’s bag that we had taken that day.
This time, even Elena did not scold me for wasting money.
“This is...”
It was a small amount tossed to him like alms.
Before, he would have shouted that he was not a beggar. Now, he accepted the money with trembling hands, lowered his head, and began to sob.
“Waaaaah... Th-Thank you... Ian... Thank you... Thank you so much...”
“Don’t say that. We were companions who crossed the snowfield together.”
We were not friends.
I patted the skinny boy on the shoulder.
* * *
Of the Labyrinth’s four districts, east, west, south, and north, the western district was the most underdeveloped. Crime was rampant there, and people called it a dangerous area.
“Ptooey. You’re nothing but trash.”
Elena shook the blood from her sword and spat.
“Ughhh...”
At her feet lay several rough-looking men, covered in blood and groaning. Each had lost an arm or a leg.
“...!”
Mauk stared at the scene Elena had created with a horrified expression.
‘Crazy.’
This was the western district where Mauk had lived as a beggar.
The terrifying alley thugs who had exploited him had been swept away by Elena.
Ian had taken action because even if he gave Mauk money to get back on his feet, the thugs would soon steal it from him.
“Hey, I’m not like that soft-hearted Ian.”
After easily taking down the thugs and collecting their coin purses, Elena looked at Mauk.
“Recover first, become independent, and live properly on your own, okay? If you come back to mooch off us, I’ll kill you.”
Elena threatened him as though she still disliked the Mauk who had always looked down on her in the village. Yet instead of taking offense, Mauk bowed deeply.
“Yeah... Yeah... Thank you. I mean... thanks, Elena.”
...
“Tch, he’s become a complete wreck.”
Elena shook her head as though his behavior irritated her even more, then approached Ian, who was leaning against an alley wall.
“Good work.”
“This side job pays pretty well. Let’s buy food with this.”
“Haah, you damn bottomless pit.”
The two bickered as they left.
Left alone, Mauk blankly watched their backs and thought.
One had become a Magic Tower mage, one had become a Priest.
The other had become a warrior.
All three had become far more impressive than him.
They had definitely been kids who couldn’t even meet my eyes back in the village.
The snowfield.
Once they had been thrown into the wild, the three of them had grown strong.
What about him?
Mauk looked down at his miserable state.
He thought of himself as livestock his father raised in the barn.
A fat pig that only swallowed the feed it was given, never even thinking of escaping its pen.
Those three were the wild wolves he had encountered that day.
“...Fuck.”
Only then did shame wash over him.
Since arriving in the Labyrinth, the wrong choices he had made in the past came back to him one after another.
If he had listened to Ian every time back then, would his fate have changed?
‘I heard Ian entered the Labyrinth as soon as he arrived in the city.’
And he had grown strong like that.
Then perhaps he could too...
Mauk looked at the dark tower rising high over the city.
“...”
The Labyrinth.
It terrified him just to look at it.
Then he looked toward the back alley where he had lived.
It had become familiar. Comfortable.
But if he went back there...
‘The same future will only repeat itself.’
After agonizing over it for a long time, Mauk clenched his fist.
“I’m going into the Labyrinth.”
Mauk used the money Ian gave him to buy a weapon and armor.
Not a single coin remained, but he went to the guild, became an Expedition Party member, and entered the Labyrinth.
To reclaim the self he had lost.
To set his broken spirit aflame once more.
To find dreams and hope.
* * *
Three days passed, and the day finally came to leave for the Magic Tower’s field training request.
I had told our usual party members, including Gimlius, Hans, and Alejandro, that I would not be entering the Labyrinth for a while.
Whoooosh!
I dressed much more heavily than when I usually entered the Labyrinth.
Over my robe, I wore a thick snow rabbit fur coat and waterproof deerskin boots, then pulled my hat on snugly.
“Hoo.”
Elena wore similar clothing over her Drake Armor, while Daisy put on the Drake Armor she had left in storage, then wore priestly robes and fur clothing over it.
Daisy, Elena, and I stood before the southern gate.
“Hah, Shirinwind Territory, where the request came from? We have to get there on our own too? That means crossing that snowfield. When are we ever going to get there?”
Elena had agreed to come, yet she was already grumbling.
That bitch was a problem whenever she opened her mouth. I shook my head, then suddenly smiled.
“Don’t worry. I prepared something for this.”
My gaze turned toward a laborer who helped the Magic Tower with odd jobs. The laborer was struggling to lead something over.
“You little brats! Can’t you stay still?”
Woof! Woof!
The laborer held the leads of three white-furred canine beasts and a sled, pulling them along.
“Hoo, here you go, mage sir! I’ll be off, then!”
Elena looked at them and asked.
“What are those? Hunting dogs?”
“An official mage like me isn’t going to walk across that snowfield on two legs like some street thug.”
They were Snow Hounds.
They were beasts bred by the Luminous School by crossing snowfield wolves and dogs. They were a common means of transportation when leaving the city for field training.
For a small fee, you could rent them from the Magic Tower.
“Heeh?”
“That’s amazing, Ian!”
“Hahahahahaha! It’s nothing.”
‘The Magic Tower really is something!’
Their support was excellent.
With this, crossing that hellish snowfield would be a little more bearable.
The three of us were not the only ones leaving for the request, either.
The Magic Tower was sending another mage as my partner.
“When are they coming? Spellcasters really are something else.”
No sooner had Elena complained than a group of people approached us.
“You’re Ian from the Astrafe School, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Kulkin of the Heide School.”
Though he was late, he did not look apologetic in the slightest.
He was a handsome man with red hair and red robes. The robes bore the flame pattern that represented the Heide School, confirming his identity.
Like me, he had two porters behind him, one man and one woman. Judging from their equipment, they did not seem like ordinary laborers.
‘They’re guards too.’
Mages were arrogant, and Magic Tower mages were even more arrogant.
Fire Mages possessed an even greater sense of superiority.
But Kulkin was kind.
“Oh, you brought a Priest too? You’re a well-connected fellow. I look forward to working with you during the training.”
“I look forward to working with you too, Kulkin.”
More precisely, he was only kind to me.
“What are you doing? Are you still not finished?”
He had been smiling gently while talking to me, but Kulkin’s gaze turned arrogant as he looked down at the two porters sweating while fastening the Snow Hounds’ harnesses.
“My apologies, Kulkin.”
-He already looks like he’ll be a pain. What a jerk.
Elena’s expression said as much, as though she disliked the party arrangement.
I was a little uneasy too, but Kulkin had more experience in the real snowfields. More importantly, he was kind to me, so it should be fine.
“Have you driven a snow sled before?”
“No.”
“Hmm, it can be dangerous if it overturns, so I’ll teach you how to drive it. I’ll assign one of our porters to you. Watch and learn.”
We would split into groups of three and ride the sleds to the territory of the frontier lord who had commissioned the request.
“Then allow me to assist you, Ian.”
One of Kulkin’s porters bowed politely and kindly taught me how to operate the sled.
“Kyah! This is incredible?!”
Elena quickly learned how to drive the sled and did so excitedly.
Whoooooosh!
Beyond the guards, past the open gate and the city walls, a world of pure white stretched out before us.
* * *
A blizzard so thick you could not see an inch ahead.
Bitter cold that cut to the bone.
A world of pure white death that even confused your sense of direction.
In this frozen world, the snowfield itself symbolized death.
Eleven Expedition Party candidates had set out from South Sunshine Village.
Of the village kids and me, only five had survived.
‘The usual survival rate is around five percent.’
Yet our journey across the snowfield, which had driven us to the brink of death, was now going far too easily.
Pant, pant, pant!
Each time their powerful white legs crossed the snow, powder scattered in every direction.
The Snow Hounds were fast.
Their stamina was incredible too.
They made crossing the snowfield far easier than walking on human legs.
Grrrr...
They were even intelligent. If there was a cliff hidden beneath the snow or a monster appeared, they noticed it first.
The beasts might be fine, but when we humans rode at such incredible speeds, our body temperature quickly dropped.
“This is really warm.”
But with the heat-filled stones Kulkin had given us tucked against our bodies, the cold was bearable.
The problem with this expedition was probably the monsters wandering the snowfield.
“Kulkin. They’re ahead.”
“Really? Everyone, stop.”
The sleds stopped behind the Snow Hounds, which were barking as if enraged.
The moment we drew our weapons...
Whoooosh!
Creak! Creak!
Dark shadows appeared beyond the white blizzard.
Every time they moved, the ice around their joints shattered, making that distinct, unpleasant sound.
“They’re Draugr!”
They were Draugr, residents revived as undead by the eternal Winter’s Curse.
“There are Heavily Armored Draugr and crossbowmen among them too!”
At first, only farmers had appeared, but once we left the area around the Labyrinth, the creatures grew more varied and dangerous.
Crossbowmen wearing ragged armor over their exposed bones.
Huge monsters wrapped head to toe in heavy armor.
Among them was a Heavily Armored Draugr, the same type of monster that had nearly driven Dize, Daisy, Elena, and me to our deaths that day.
Whoooosh! Twang!
A bony hand pulled the bowstring.
The bolts fired through the blizzard were so fast and subtle they were difficult to see, but Elena casually blocked one with her shield.
“Not happening!”
Kulkin smiled arrogantly and raised flames in his palm.
“No matter what...”
He was quite a skilled mage.
Most of the Draugr we had encountered so far had been reduced to ash with a single spell from him.
I supposed he had a reason to show off.
Then I stepped in front of Kulkin and spoke.
“Haven’t you used a lot of spells already? Leave this one to us.”
More precisely, I wanted to see how well my spells worked against them.
“Hmm... Well, if my junior says so.”
Leaving Kulkin behind as he shrugged, I put some distance between myself and my companions.
Electricity could still travel through a blizzard.
Iron weapons could even serve as lightning rods.
This was another disadvantage Lightning spells had in the snowfield.
I burned the spell parchment within me and cast my spells.
[Lightning Arrow]
[Ice Spear]
Crackle!
Creak!
But I could only click my tongue at what unfolded before me.
Fuck.
Lightning and Frost magic.
My powerful offensive spells did not work well against the Draugr at all.
“You dare block the spells of this super genius mage? Try blocking this too.”
[Chain Lightning]
Cracklecrackle!
I even had to use Chain Lightning just to kill a Draugr crossbowman and one warrior.
“Pant, pant.”
This was why Lightning Mages and Frost Mages were not respected in this world.
No, more accurately, why they were unsuited to external missions outside the Labyrinth.
The return was far too low for the resources expended.
‘Electric spells mainly kill through shock or by burning their targets’ internal organs.’
‘But the undead don’t have those sensory organs in the first place!’
You had to shatter their entire bodies, but that was difficult for Lightning spells by their nature.
An extreme compatibility mismatch.
‘I should use Arcane in the snowfield!’
-Haha. This is why Lightning is useless.
I expected him to mock me like that...
Clap. Clap.
Instead, Kulkin watched my spells and applauded in admiration.
“You said you’re fourteen, Ian?”
“Yes.”
“But you can already use Chain Lightning? That’s incredible.”
He was not being sarcastic.
He was sincerely impressed by my talent, by my ability as a mage beyond affinities.
This man...
‘He seems like a good person?’
My prejudice against Kulkin, whom I had assumed was an asshole mage, faded more and more.
“Hey! You’re done, right?!”
“Yeah.”
As I nodded, Elena rushed in and crossed swords with the Heavily Armored Draugr that had charged at me.
Clang!
“...”
After a brief contest of strength, Elena kicked away the armored soldier’s shield and drew up her power.
“Hup!”
[Smite]
Destructive light fell, denting the shield and crushing the iron helmet.
Her sword then swept sideways and shattered the armored soldier’s head.
With ice fragments scattering behind her, Elena repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fist with a complicated expression.
“Was it always this easy...”
The monster that had nearly driven us to death that day had been killed far too easily.
“That just means we’ve grown stronger.”
“But you seem to have gotten weaker.”
Elena grinned smugly as she looked at me.
“You little!”
I started bickering with Elena.
Anyway, I had now measured the power of my spells in the snowfield.
It was a good thing I had brought Elena and Daisy as guards.
‘Draugr aren’t the only danger in the snowfield.’
After taking care of them, we climbed back onto the sleds and continued traveling. When night fell, we prepared camp.
Whoooosh!
A wide leather tent shook back and forth against the blizzard, which howled like ghosts crying out.
Flamma
When Kulkin cast a spell into a small brazier, the inside of the ice-cold tent grew warm in an instant.
It was a basic spell, the warm flame that the Fire Mages in my village had often used, but its heat far surpassed theirs.
It felt as though an electric heater had been turned on nearby.
Once again, I could see his skill from the amount of warmth he produced even in this cold.
‘Fire is completely broken! It’s unfair!’
“Hoo...”
“Mmm, delicious. It tastes even better eating it out here, doesn’t it?!”
Thanks to that, we cooked warm stew, softened bread, and fried bacon.
It was an extravagant meal to enjoy in the middle of a snowfield.
Pant, pant.
“Is it good?”
Daisy gave a piece of bacon to a Snow Hound and smiled softly.
The six Snow Hounds that had pulled the sleds were also lying belly-down inside the tent, making contented rumbling sounds.
“Give some to the junior mage and his friends too.”
“Yes.”
Kulkin shared warm tea as well, saying it was good for restoring stamina.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. We’re mages of the same Magic Tower. We should help each other.”
Kulkin lay with his head on the female porter’s thigh as if she were a maid, reading a book.
“For the night watch, the three of you will take turns, excluding me, Ian, and the Priest.”
“Yes.”
“That...”
Easy, Elena. Calm down.
Aside from his arrogance toward non-mages, he was a good person.
‘No, he’s practically a saint by mage standards.’
Crackle. Crackle.
The magical fire required no firewood and produced no smoke.
Daisy lay in that warmth while hugging a Snow Hound, then looked at me.
“I still can’t believe it.”
“Hm?”
“Honestly, I thought it would be incredibly hard.”
“Me too.”
She was right.
Our past journey.
It was enough to make all the hardship we endured crossing the snowfield from the village seem ridiculous.
‘Of course, we’re only on the outskirts, so we can’t let our guard down...’
I spoke to Daisy.
“Maybe things are going so smoothly because we’ve grown that much stronger?”
We had dealt with the Draugr so easily, and a Fire Mage of Kulkin’s caliber was traveling with us because we had reached our current position.
“Hmm, thinking of it that way makes me happy.”
Daisy smiled beautifully at my words.
It was a smile that suited her flower-like name.
As I smiled back at her...
“Uhhh... Cold. It’s so cold.”
A frivolous voice came in with the sharp wind.
Elena, who had been standing watch outside, had returned after switching with one of Kulkin’s porters.
“Gyaaaaaah!”
I was chatting quietly with Daisy when I screamed.
“Hehe! So warm!”
Elena laughed playfully, brushed snow off herself, then crawled into my blanket and hugged me.
“You crazy bitch!”
“Hehehehehe!”
“Junior. Keep it down when you sleep.”
“...I’m sorry.”
Amid the commotion, the night in the snowfield deepened.
* * *
The next morning, after we finished Memorize and ate, we set out again.
The Draugr moved slowly, so as long as they were not blocking our path, they were easy to leave behind.
Uuuhhh...
My proficiency with Frost spells was rising at a rate incomparable to when I was in Labyrinth City.
At this rate, I would soon gain a new spell.
‘That’s another advantage of the snowfield.’
The frontier lord’s territory where our client lived was about three days south of the Labyrinth.
I had a map from the client, so I did not have to worry about getting lost.
But maps in this underdeveloped world, where civilization had declined, were inevitably vague and unreliable. We needed a few landmarks to guide us.
“A village.”
We found one of the villages along the way to the territory.
It was a small settlement with a fence serving as its outer wall.
“The name is... Hmm, I can’t see it clearly.”
Kulkin looked over the old map, pointed to the village, and asked me.
“I think we should rest here today and ask around about the nearby terrain. What do you think?”
“Yes...”
I was about to nod at Kulkin’s suggestion when I tilted my head.
“Huh?”
The village before us somehow looked familiar.
As we approached the settlement, I became certain.
This was...
South Sunshine Village.
The village where Daisy, Elena, and I had been born and raised.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
